


Decompression

by earlgreyson



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Pre-OT3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 05:55:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5773894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlgreyson/pseuds/earlgreyson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been three days since returning to base and neither Rey or Poe have really dealt with their feelings on what has happened to them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Decompression

**Author's Note:**

> so I've shakily been trying to get back into writing and had a kind of intense personal emotional decompression today so I thought I would explore a little of these two. unbeta'd, comments are appreciated as I am a whore for attention.

The sound of machines moving quietly was the sound of life to Rey. The slight _whoosh_ of air and the click as metal tapped against metal meant that things were working properly. Rey had long ago slipped into the habit of matching her breathing to whatever machine was in front of her. Now it helped her feel connected to her first friend, one she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to speak to again.

The doctors had said that Finn would heal, that though the wound was grave it wasn’t necessarily fatal. It all depended on how strong Finn was, in the end. They hadn’t been there as the snow had turned red under the man’s limp frame. On the Falcon, Rey had tried to patch Finn up as best she could as she felt tears burn in her eyes she couldn’t let fall yet. She wanted to be sick as she looked at the burned skin, the blood that sluggishly slipped from where the cauterized flesh had been torn with movement. Finn had come back for her and this is what he got for his efforts. Guilt burned in Rey’s throat and she could not dislodge it.

It had been three days since they had landed at the Resistance base and the woman had not moved from Finn’s side. No one had said anything, not quite sure what to think of the scavenger and the stormtrooper. Leia looked in on them occasionally, bringing Rey water and sitting close to her on the small bench. She would ask questions of the younger woman, things about Jakku, about the fields of dead ships. It was a welcome distraction and Rey stumbled slowly through the tellings. She’d never had anyone to tell stories to and found it hard to pick the right words. The General never commented on the careful way Rey picked through the minefield of her memories, avoiding rusted out horrors and dusting off rare gems of discovery.

In turn Leia shared tales of adventures in the depths of space. Rey liked the ones where Leia had to save everyone with her quick thinking, where her mouth twisted into a smirk as she recalled Han jumping before looking and having to be pulled out of the fire. She liked the stories about Han, but the hurt deep in her gut at the thought of him felt like dying. He’d tried so _hard_ to be brave and stay in the end and it had killed him. A dark voice in the depths of her mind asked if staying would kill Rey too.

Night had fallen hours before. Rey lay on her side on the small bench, curled in on herself while one arm extended to lightly clasp Finn’s hand on the bed. She hadn’t moved since the last medidroid had come to check in on her friend, had let the machines even out her breathing as she lay with her thoughts. Every so often she would feel her eyes start to drift shut with the weariness that had seeped into her bones. She hadn’t slept more than an hour at a time, hadn’t eaten beyond what the doctor’s brought her when she refused to move. If she wasn’t there and he woke up, what would she do? What if she wasn’t there and he died? Fear kept her going, but it couldn’t carry her forever.

The door slid open behind her and Rey moved to sit up. Poe Dameron slipped in, smiling apologetically at her. He had been the only other source of contact in the last few days, the concern for Finn in his eyes almost calming. At least she wasn’t alone in her worry.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he murmured, sitting when she made room for him on the bench. His thigh pressed against hers, solid and warm. Rey was too tired to feel anything other than comforted.

“I wasn’t asleep.” She saw Poe glance at her from the corner of her eye, but she let her gaze remain fixed on Finn’s sleeping form. Hearing a slight rustle, a strange piece of fruit appeared in her line of sight. Rey looked at Poe in surprise.

“You haven’t left and I thought it might be better if you didn’t starve before our buddy here wakes up.” The pilot’s voice was kind and it felt like a punch to the gut. Rey could see her own wide eyes in his brown ones and a tremble fluttered through her chin. She was so _tired_ and she hadn’t let herself really feel it, but now in the face of selfless compassion and concern it was beginning to hit her.

 

Poe could tell the moment she started to become overwhelmed, could see the tremor in her shoulders start and shake down her body. He had only meant to come keep vigil over the two, a day of running around base leaving him exhausted and in need of quiet. It was late enough that he figured Rey would be asleep, but she hadn’t slept in days and it showed. Bruises had formed under her eyes and her skin had gone sallow under the desert burned skin. Holding the small melon he’d stashed out to her, Poe knew a moment too late he had said the wrong thing.

“Hey now, it’s okay,” he said softly, carefully wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Rey stiffened and Poe cursed himself for making the wrong choice _again_ , but then the woman had hiccuped and curled into his side as tears began to fall. The man tightened his arms around Rey and tucking his head against her hair. Words poured out from his lips, quiet and comforting as he rocked her on the bench. It felt like a thunderstorm was rolling through Rey as she gasped and sniffled and sobbed. Poe felt his own eyes well up with the emotions of the last few days. He hadn’t stopped moving, had distracted himself from fresh memories of torture, of death and callous destruction. There had been no time to decompress from everything that had happened and in the face of Rey’s own emotional rapids, Poe found himself dragged in.

Machines _whirred_ and _whooshed_ as Finn slept on, oblivious to his two friends breaking down so close to him. They wrapped themselves around each other—clinging and grasping like they were drowning—and cried until there was nothing left, until they had drained the toxins of fear and pain that had built in their systems without release. Rey struggled to match her breathing to the sound of life around her, dragged in rough deep breaths and choked them out. It took time, but eventually the tears ebbed and the breaths slowed. The aftermath was quiet sniffles and sighs. Poe moved to let Rey regain her space but she shook her head against his chest, not looking at him.

“I—I’m sor—“ she hiccuped, trying to tell the man that she would be okay in a minute if he would just be _still_ and _solid_ and _warm_ for a moment longer. Poe tightened his arms again and quieted her.

“You did nothing wrong,” he said firmly, voice hoarse. “We're going to be fine, it’s okay.”

Rey nodded and just focused on breathing. _In, out. In, out. Whoosh._

  
  
The sun was hours from waking when Leia, tired and aimless, found herself standing in the doorway of the former stormtrooper known as Finn. Poe Dameron and Rey were curled together on the small bench, Rey with her head tucked under Poe’s chin and legs bent over his. The pilot had one arm wrapped around her in a death grip the General could see was equally matched. Both had their free hand clasped around one of Finn's. Sleep had softened the lines of worry in their faces, the red around their eyes fading as they slowly breathed. Leia smiled a little to herself as she let the sight solidify in her memory. Things were far from alright now, but seeing the three of them so close made her feel like maybe someday they would be.


End file.
